*When Saint
Dominic
was
preaching at Carcasone, in France, an Albigensian heretic, who, for
having
publicly ridiculed the devotion of the Rosary, was possessed by devils,
was brought to him. The Saint then obliged the evil spirits to declare,
whether the things which he said about the most holy Rosary were true.
Howling, they replied, 'Listen, Christians: all that this enemy of ours
has said of Mary, and of the most holy Rosary, is true.'
They moreover
added, 'that they had no power against the servants of Mary; and that
many,
by invoking in death the name of Mary, were saved, contrary to their
deserts.'
They concluded, saying: 'We are forced to declare, that no one is lost
who perseveres in devotion to Mary and in that of the most holy Rosary,
for Mary obtains for those who are sinners true repentance before they
die.' Saint Dominic then made the people recite the Rosary; and, O
prodigy,
at every Hail Mary many evil spirits left the body of the possessed man
under the form of red-hot coals; so that, when the Rosary was finished,
he was entirely freed. On this occasion many heretics were converted.
The nuns, however, displeased at her seclusion, did all that they could to make her give up the course she had traced out for herself. One day whilst she was saying the Rosary, and entreating Mary to help her in the persecution she underwent, a letter fell before her. On the outside was written, 'Mary, the Mother of God, to her daughter Johanna, greeting.'
Inside it she read: 'My beloved daughter, continue to say my Rosary; avoid intercourse with those who do not help thee to live well; beware of sloth and vanity; banish two superfluous things from thy cell, and I will be thy protectress with God.'
The abbot, under whose jurisdiction the monastery was, visited it soon after, and endeavored to reform it, but without success. He one day saw many devils enter the cells of the nuns, but not into that of Johanna; for the Divine Mother, before whom he saw her praying, drove them away. Having afterwards learnt from her the devotion of the Rosary which she practiced, and the letter she had received, he ordered all the nuns to do the same; and the account says that the convent became a paradise.
In Rome there was a woman
known
by
the name of 'Catherine the Fair,' who was leading a most disorderly
life.
She once heard Saint Dominic preaching on the devotion of the Rosary,
had
her name enrolled in the confraternity, and began to recite it, but
without
changing her life. One evening a young man of noble mien came to visit
her: she received him with courtesy, but, whilst they were at supper,
she
remarked, that as he was cutting bread drops of blood fell from his
hands,
and then she saw that there was blood on all the food he took. She
asked
him what was the meaning of this.
The young man replied, that 'the food
of a Christian should be tinged with the blood of Jesus Christ, and
seasoned
with the remembrance of His passion.' Astonished at such an answer,
Catherine
asked him who he was. 'Later,' he said, 'I will tell you.' Then going
into
an adjoining room, the appearance of the young man changed; he was
crowned
with thorns; his flesh all mangled and torn; and he said: 'Desirest
thou
to know Who I am? Dost thou not recognize Me? I am thy Redeemer. O,
Catherine,
when wilt thou cease offending Me? See what I have endured for thee.
Thou
hast now tormented Me enough; change thy life.'